Battery terminal clamp

ABSTRACT

A battery terminal clamp which may be manually clamped or removed from a battery terminal post or from a connector engaging a battery terminal post is disclosed. The portion of the clamp which receives the post includes two pairs of spaced apart arms with a stud disposed between each pair of arms. A camming means operates between the studs to clamp the battery post.

United States Patent [1 1 Chartrain et al.

[ 1 Sept. 24, 1974 BATTERY TERMINAL CLAMP [73] Assignee: Korrosion-Clean-Klamp C0., Van

Nuys, Calif.

[22] Filed: Sept. 25, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 291,654

[52] US. Cl. 339/226, 339/239 [51] Int. Cl H0lr 7/06 [58] Field of Search 339/226, 229, 238, 239, 339/274 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,977,]79 10/1934 Fisch 339/229 2,887,668 5/1959 Sherno 339/226 3,084,306 4/1963 Cribbs 339/239 3,521,223 7/1970 Martinez 339/239 3,529,281 9/l970 Martinez et al 339/239 Primary Examiner.lames R. Boler Assistant Examiner-Wai M. Chan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Spensley, Horn & Lubitz [5 7 ABSTRACT A battery terminal clamp which may be manually clamped or removed from a battery terminal post or from a connector engaging a battery terminal post is disclosed. The portion of the clamp which receives the post includes two pairs of spaced apart arms with a stud disposed between each pair ofarms. A camming means operates between the studs to clamp the battery post.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 1 BATTERY TERMINAL CLAMP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention The invention relates to the field of battery terminal clamps or clamps for gripping electrical connectors.

2 Prior Art I The prior art known to the applicant is that shown in US Pat. Nos. 3,529,281, 3,488,627 and 3,521,223. The present battery terminal clamp overcomes a number of shortcomings of the prior art battery clamp shown in the above referenced patents.

One problem encountered with the prior art battery clamps is that the clamp cracks under the pressure of the locking means or camming means. Because of the overall shape and construction of the prior art clamps, it is difficult to reinforce these clamps toprevent this cracking. Additionally, in the prior art clamps, the camming handle may be easily' bent upwards or downwards, thereby causing it to fail. It is also difficult with the prior art camming handle to reinforce the handle to prevent this movement of the handle. Another problem with the prior art clamp is that the body portion of the clamp must be molded as a single piece. As will be seen with the presently disclosed clamp, the body portion of the clamp comprises two separate pieces which are joined after the camming means has been installed within the body'portion of the clamp. It is easier to mold two smaller plastic members than a single larger member making the present invention easier to fabricate than the prior art.

As will be seen, the presently disclosed invention overcomes the above mentioned problems of the prior art battery clamps in addition to others and provides a more durable and reliable battery clamp.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.

A battery terminal clamp which may be manually clamped or removed from a battery terminal post or from an electrical connector engaging at battery terminal post is described. The body portion of the clamp comprises an upper and lower U-shaped members. The curved portion of the U-shaped members define a bore which encircles a battery terminal post or a connector engaging a post. A pair of studs are disposed between the ends of the U-shaped members, these studs are an integral part of one of the U-shaped members and extend into aperture disposed within the other U-shaped member. A camming means which includes a lever arm and a yoke are coupled between the studs and are used to move the studs relative to one another thereby vary- .ing the size of the bore. When the lever arm is moved in one direction, the bore diameter is lessened allowing the battery clamp to grip a battery terminal post or connector. When the lever arm is moved in the other direction, the size of the bore is increased allowing the battery clamp to be manually removed from the terminal post.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the clamp and connector of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the clamp and connector of FIG. 1 taken through section line 3-.3 of FIG 2.

FIG, 4 is an end view of the clamp and connector of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the clamp of FIG. 2 taken through section line 55 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the clamp shown in FIGS. 1 5 and is used to illustrate the gripping or clamping of a battery terminal post or connector when the lever or camming arm is moved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referrring first to FIG. I, the battery clamp 10 is illustrated gripping an electrical connector 13. As may be readily seen in FIG. 3, one end of the electrical connector 13 encircles and electrically contacts the battery terminal post l2of battery 19 while the other end of the connector 13 is coupled to a cable 11. The cylindrical portion of the connector 13 which engagesthe bat-- tery terminal post includes a slot which allows that portion of the connector 13 to be clamped onto the battery terminal post 12. Thus, as the clamp 10 of FIG. 1 compresses the cylindrical portion of the connector 13, it in turn grips the battery terminal post 12. The battery terminal clamp 10 includes an upper clamp member 30 and a lower clamp member 35, both of which define a bore or aperture which encircles the connector 13 and the battery terminal post. A lever arm or camming arm 20 which cooperatively engages the yoke allow the arms of the upper and lower clamp members to be urged apart or pulled together thereby changing the size or diameter of the bore, al-

lowing the clamp to release or grip the connector 13.

Referring to FIGS. 1 5, the upper clamp member has a general U-shape and defines a bore 31 with the center of its U-shape. The ends of the U-shaped member include arms 32a and 32b. A pairof cylindrical apertures 33a and 33b are disposed through the arms 32a and 32b, respectively, near their ends. These apertures as will be seen, receive studs 38a and 38b which are an integral part of the lower clamp member 35. Since bore 31 of the upper clamp member 30 includes a slot defined by the arms 32a and 32b, it is readily apparent that as these arms are urged apart or pulled towards one another, the size of the aperture 31 will be varied Lower clamp member 35 which is similar in shape to the upper clamp member '30 is a generally U-shaped member also defining a bore, bore 36, and includes a pair of arms 37a and 37b. A pair of studs 38a and 38b are rigidly coupled at approximately a right angle to the arms 37a and 37b, respectively, and as previously mentioned, engage apertures 33a and 33b of the upper clamp member 30. As was the case with the upper clamp member, as the arms 37a and 37b are moved toward one another or moved away from one another, the size of the aperture of bore 36 will vary.

The upper clamp member 30 includes a cylindrical section 34 (FIG. 3) which engages a similar cylindrical section 38 of the lower clamp member 35 at a common annular surface 40. In the presently preferred embodiment, section 34 includes a groove which receives a lip which is part of the section 38 as may be readily seen in FIG. 3. Thus, when the upper and lower clamp members are assembled, the arms of the upper clamp member 30 are substantially parallel to the arms of the lower clamp member 35 and the arms are substantially perpendicular to the axis of the bores 31 and 36. Because of the sections 34 and 38, when the upper and lower clamp members are mated at surface 40, a region 41 is defined between the arms 32a and 32b of the upper clamp member 30 and the arms 37a and 37b of the lower clamp member 35. As is readily apparent from the figures, particularly, FIG. 5, the pair of arms comprising 32a and 37a which are interconnected by stud 38a and the pair of arms comprising arms 32b and 37b which are interconnected by stud 38b when moved towards one another or away from one another, cause the size of the bore encircling the connector 13 to vary. As will be seen, camming means which engage the studs 38a and 38b produce the relative motion between the pairs of arms 32a and 37a and 32b and 37b which allow the clamp to grip a connector or battery terminal post. It is the use of these four arms and the interconnecting studs which provide far superior gripping characteristics with greatly improved reliability over the prior art.

The camming means which comprises the lever or camming arm and the yoke are placed on the studs 38a and 38b prior to the time that the upper and lower clamp'members are assembled. The camming arm 20 includes an elongated handle at one end which permits the clamp to be manually operated and at the other end includes a bore 21 adaptable for allowing the camming arm 20 to pivot on stud 38b. Protruding from the general flat surface of the camming arm 20 is a cam 22 which comprises a cylindrical member eccentrically mounted relative to the axis of bore 21 as is most clearly seen in FIGS. 2 and 5.

The yoke 25 which has the overall appearance of a figure-eight serves to interconnect the studs 38a and 38b with the cam 26. One end of the yoke 25 includes an aperture 27 adaptable for engaging the stud 38a. A boss 29 which is concentric with aperture 27 extends above the surface 28 of the yoke 25, this boss abuts the lower surface of arm 32 and is disposed about stud 38a. The other end of the yoke 25 includes a circular aperture 26 which engages the cam 22. Thus, as may be seen from the figures, particularly FIG. 5, as the camming arm 20 is moved about stud 38b cam 22 will urge the yoke 25 to move and since the stud 38a is enclosed by aperture 27 of the yoke, relative movement will result between the studs 38a and 38b. For example, referring to FIG. 6, if the camming arm 20 is moved in the direction as indicated by arrow 16, the distance between the arms 32a and 32b and also the arms 37a and 37b will increase as indicated by arrows 17. This will cause the size of the bores 31 and 36 to increase allowing the clamp to be readily removed from a connector or battery post. On the other hand, if the camming arm 20 is moved in the direction opposite arrow 16, it will cause the arms of the U-shaped members to pull together, making the diameter of the bore 31 and the bore 36 smaller, thereby causing the clamp to grip the connector 13. The cammming arm 20 when moved to the position indicated in FIG. 2 remains against the side of the upper and lower clamp members and in this position, a connector encircled by the clamp members will be rigidly held on a battery terminal post.

In the presently preferred embodiment, the upper and lower clamp members, the camming arm and the yoke are plastic members. It has been found that in building such clamps a considerable amount of stress is placed upon the yoke 25 when the clamp is operated. In the presently preferred embodiment fiberglass is utilized within the plastic comprising the yoke for reinforcement.

In assembling the clamp, the camming means comprising the camming arm 20 and yoke 25 are placed upon the studs 38a and 38b and then the upper clamp member 40 is placed above the camming means and lower clamp member 25 also engaging the studs 38a and 38b. An aligning ring 42, which is an integral part of the upper surface of the lower clamp member 35, cooperatively engages an annular recess disposed on the lower surface of the upper clamp member 30, at surface 40. This ring provides an aligning means to assure alignment of the upper and lower clamp members during assembly. Next, the seam between the upper and lower clamp members, this seam being defined by the common surface 40, in the presently preferred embodiment, is sonically welded. No fastening or welding of any kind is required to the arms of the clamp or to the camming means. This is a distinct advantage over the prior art since the reinforced member, yoke 25 which becomes brittle as a result of the reinforcing, is not subjected to any unusual stresses during assembly. In the prior art, those members which required reinforcing were also subjected to forces during assembly which sometimes caused them to fail prematurely.

With the present invention the upper clamp member 30 and the lower clamp member 40 may be reinforced by inserting wire or stamped metal parts into these members during their fabrication. For example, a U shaped metal member (in the case of the upper clamp member) and a U shaped metal member having its ends bend upwards to fit into the studs (in the case of the lower clamp member) may be placed into the molten plastic. Likewise, a metal wire or stamped metal member, having the shape of a figure 8 may be formed in the yoke 25 to reinforce it.

It is also possible with the present invention to cast either the lower or upper clamp member with rivets disposed about the mating surfaces of these members parallel to the bore. In such cases the mating member (either the upper or lower clamp member) would include corresponding apertures for receiving the rivets. The rivets should extend through the apertures so that they may be mushroomed" by heat, sonic welding or by mechanical force to secure the upper and lower clamp members.

Thus, a battery terminal clamp which is superior to the prior art has been disclosed.

We claim:

1. A battery clamp comprising:

a plastic upper U-shaped member, the central portion of which defines an aperture, said upper U- shaped member defining a first mating surface generally perpendicular to said aperture;

a plastic lower U-shaped member coupled to said upper member, approximately parallel to said upper member, such that the ends of said upper and lower members define a region, said lower U- shaped member defining a second mating surface generally perpendicular to said aperture for engaging said first mating surface;

a first plastic stud disposed in said region between one leg of said upper U-shaped member and one leg of said lower U-shaped member, said first stud being an integral part of one of said upper and lower U-shaped members;

a second plastic stud disposed in said region between the other leg of said upper U-shaped member and the other leg of said lowertU-shaped member, said second stud being an integral part of one of said upper and lower U-shaped members;

a plastic camming means engaging said first and second stud between said ends of said upper and lower members, for moving said studs relative to one another thereby varying the size of said aperture; and

aligning means defined by said first and second mating surfaces of said upper and lower U-shaped members for aligning said upper and lower U- shaped members such that after said camming means has been placed into engagement with said first and second stud said aligning means aligns said upper and lower U-shaped members allowing said members to be fastened together thereby securing said camming means in place on said first and second studs without requiring any fastening of said camming means on said first and second studs;

whereby said aperture may be placed around a connector encircling a battery terminal post and clamped onto said connector and post.

2. The battery clamp defined in claim 1 wherein said camming means includes a lever arm and cam which pivotally engage said first stud and a yoke which engages said second stud and said cam whereby movement of said lever arrn causes said cam to operate against said yoke to move said studs relative to one another.

3. The battery clamp defined in claim 2 wherein said yoke is reenforced with fiberglass. 

1. A battery clamp comprising: a plastic upper U-shaped member, the central portion of which defines an aperture, said upper U-shaped member defining a first mating surface generally perpendicular to said aperture; a plastic lower U-shaped member coupled to said upper member, approximately parallel to said upper member, such that the ends of said upper and lower members define a region, said lower Ushaped member defining a second mating surface generally perpendicular to said aperture for engaging said first mating surface; a first plastic stud disposed in said region between one leg of said upper U-shaped member and one leg of said lower U-shaped member, said first stud being an integral part of one of said upper and lower U-shaped members; a second plastic stud disposed in said region between the other leg of said upper U-shaped member and the other leg of said lower U-shaped member, said second stud being an integral part of one of said upper and lower U-shaped members; a plastic camming means engaging said first and second stud between said ends of said upper and lower members, for moving said studs relative to one another thereby varying the size of said aperture; and aligning means defined by said first and second mating surfaces of said upper and lower U-shaped members for aligning said upper and lower U-shaped members such that after said camming means has been placed into engagement with said first and second stud said aligning means aligns said upper and lower Ushaped members allowing said members to be fastened together thereby securing said camming means in place on said first and second studs without requiring any fastening of said camming means on said first and second studs; whereby said aperture may be placed around a connector encircling a battery terminal post and clamped onto said connector and post.
 2. The battery clamp defined in claim 1 wherein said camming means includes a lever arm and cam which pivotally engage said first stud and a yoke which engages said second stud and said cam whereby movement of said lever arm causes said cam to operate against said yoke to move said studs relative to one another.
 3. The battery clamp defined in claim 2 wherein said yoke is reenforced with fiberglass. 